Recently attended the launch of a music group....featuring a differently abled person aided by his sister, also a very good singer...yet another of innumerable occasions to feel inspired by the human spirit...so many odds, the struggle, the hope....and an emphasis on abilities rather than disabilities which all of us have.

The recent deluge in mumbai was an opportunity to watch such spirit at work....csws(commercial sex workers ) helping people tide over; i myself was helped by a group of slum children who guided me through a difficult lane , indicating where the storm gutters were, so that I did not slip into it....was often left wondering, they probably had their homes washed off in the deluge...

The mumbai riots and its aftermath, the bomb blasts also brought so many touching human expressions to the fore...like a lady i remember in Dharavi, Khaleda.....who would dare to go to the streets and pick up the injured all by herself...and bring them to the local mosque compound which was a point of collection for our rescue teams....neither , the wo/menfolk of her locality nor the clerics supported her.... she was a one man army who might have enabled the saving of more than a 100 people....irrespective of their religious or other denominations...

Also, the cab driver who used to consistently commute me during those troubled and violent times...always took the exact fare, never a premium....which i was willing to offer because of the risk he was taking to himself and his vehicle....i used to be targetted frequently by some anti-social elements and on more than one occasion, his dexterity at the wheel saw me through...

Have often observed street children get together to save one of their fraternity who might be ill...normally, everyone is a threat, a competition...a spare shirt is given to the laundry and never collected..because it may get stolen while they sleep....but i remember this boy, murugan, who took seriously ill and needed hospitalization...grant road station....a helpline outreach had got in touch from nana chowk...when i reached the place and organized some adhoc donations to enable the boy's admission.....a few of those kids who already knew me...came up to me saying they would like to contribute....it was a dilemna...knowing their states...but then, not giving them an opportunity to help one of their fraternity to me did not make sense....they spread a handkerchief; everyone ran here and there; and they brought out various resources from their various hiding places....i knew the extent of saving of some of the boys....i saw them give off everything....holding nothing back....
to my suggestion that they give only a part of it, they just nonchalantly said, "fikar mat karo...kal phir haath paiir chala lenge...." (dont worry, we will use our hands and legs for tomorrow) ....they earned money through various loading jobs....

I dont know about you guys, I still do not have the capacity to give off all I have materially to anyone...there is always a hold back....

the human spirit..always throbbing, if we only pause to hear it....

Recently, a human who functions as a commercial sex worker called me up seeking some help for her step father who was severely ill.I know a bit of her case history; the kind of abuse she faced at this person's hands.When i reminded her of it, her reply stunned me...."Kya farak girta hai saab..zindagi bahut choti hai.nafrat ke aag mein kyon bitayen...woh hamare maaji ko kuch anand de sake hai, hum se jo hoga unke liye hum karna chahenge....."
( what difference would it make...life is too short, why waste it in the flames of hatred...He has given some joy to my mother and it is my wish to do my best for him....)......natural forgiveness and acceptance...

and the cobbler at the IIT campus in Mumbai who i used to go to just watch at work....to me, he epitomised karma yoga....rain or sunshine, he was there doing his work without a whine or a whimper....or a carpenter, panchal , who i love watching at work....an artiste who is proud of his artform....not just a profession for him....

and so many more.....

Man's search for meaning, an interesting book by Viktor Frankl talks of the difference in attitude of jewish prisoners who survived the nazi concentration camps.Logotherapy, his contribution to the world is revered as a bible in the realms of psychoanalysis, seeded in personal authentication from his years at the nazi concentration camps.

People make the difference as individuals they are and the choices they make inspite of circumstances.

For me, given a long period of association with the ngo sector, both organized and ad hoc....my contributions would never match my personal enrichment..it has been invaluable...and when i experience my own roadblocks, it serves me well, when i see the odds stacked against some of these guys....